By way of example only, some background will firstly be provided by some comments concerning the game of golf. Golf is a popular pastime of both sexes and is played by people of all ages and abilities.
Golf is played with golf clubs of various types. Golf clubs generally come in three forms: woods, irons and putters which are distinguished by the shape of the club and the intended use of the club. While commonly referred to as “woods”, it will be appreciated that such clubs are now typically fabricated from a metal or metal alloy. Woods and irons are generally used to bit the ball desired distances in the air with spin and/or loft, while putters are generally used to impart rolling motion to the ball as it travels across a green adjacent the hole.
For woods and irons in particular, the clubs are typically swung at speed to contact the ball, making the ball airborne in a direction towards a desired target. In this regard, much emphasis has been placed on developing and manufacturing woods and irons in a manner that provides the golfer with increased control over the length of their drive and the direction of the ball following impact. Generally, most advances have been focussed on increasing the size of the club head and/or optimising the weight distribution of the club. It will be appreciated that most existing clubs still comprise a hand grip, tubular shaft and head.
For woods, in particular driving woods, club head speed has been considered as being important in obtaining relatively long driving distances. As most conventional drivers have a club head with a substantially flat face to contact the ball that is located on the end of a tubular shaft, swinging of the club at speed will generate aerodynamic drag which can greatly reduce the speed and/or stability of the club head during a golf swing. Such drag can be particularly detrimental to golfers who are learning the game and/or developing their swing technique, as well as those looking to optimise their game.
The design and manufacture of golf clubs is also a highly regulated field and is governed by laws set by the game authorities. The proportions of the club head are controlled by the rules of golf. The design of the golf club shaft is also controlled. For example, it is understood that the shaft of a golf club cannot have a greater stiffness in any plane as compared to the other. This is, at least in part, to prevent stability being built into the club shaft in a fore/aft plane while still allowing “whip” during the swing. In short, the club shaft must be homogeneous in its stiffness in all planes.
While the above background has concentrated on golf clubs, it will be appreciated that golf clubs are just one example of an implement, sporting or otherwise, that during use may need to be moved through air.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present application. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present application as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.